


Blood Brothers

by herondick



Category: The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Gen, Parabatai, Parabatai Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26502505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herondick/pseuds/herondick
Summary: A one-shot of the day Will told Jem they would become parabatai.
Relationships: Jem Carstairs/Tessa Gray, Jem Carstairs/Will Herondale, Tessa Gray/Will Herondale
Kudos: 15





	Blood Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: all characters belong to Cassandra Clare.

Rain pounded on the training room windows. Will Herondale stood in the center of the room, facing the target painted on the far wall. He was holding a throwing knife. He had been training since right after breakfast. He had even skipped lunch, despite Charlotte repeatedly coming to the training room during lunch trying to make him eat something. He was determined to become a better Shadowhunter. In his mind, that meant sometimes missing meals to train. 

Will stared at the target before him and took a deep breath. He raised his right hand, the weight of the knife balanced. It’s all in your wrist, he could hear Jem’s gentle voice in his mind. Will took aim, and let the knife fly. It stuck right outside the center of the target, the hilt quivering slightly. Will let out a breath. Damn, I will get this one of these days.

Will’s thoughts then went back to Jem. Despite Will’s complete lack of training, Jem had shown nothing but absolute patience when training with him. He never got frustrated when Will dropped countless knives, daggers, and swords. He didn’t even get upset when, during one training exercise, Will accidentally wrapped a whip around Jem’s ankles, causing him to fall face first onto the training room floor. 

It wasn’t only Jem’s ungodly amount of patience; it was also his ability to take Will’s harsh cruelty in stride. No matter what Will said, it never seemed to bother Jem. All of these traits made Will start to think about their friendship. About fighting beside Jem all the time, not just in the training room. Will wanted to be by Jem’s side, no matter what, until the day Jem took his final breath. Will’s train of thought was interrupted by the training room door swinging open. 

It was Jem. He was dressed in training gear. The dark material made the silver of his hair stand out almost blindly, though he still had a few streaks of black left. Jem smiled at Will as he walked toward his friend. 

“You know,” he said. “A key component of becoming an excellent Shadowhunter is actually eating enough food to sustain yourself.”

Will rolled his eyes. “The time seems to slip away from me when I’m training. Maybe the training room is trapped in some sort of demonic time loop? What a great way to make the Shadowhunters meet their ultimate demise. Simply train them to death with no food.”

“The Institute is well warded, William. That is not even possible.” Jem was shaking his head at him, the smile never leaving his face. “But please do stop leaving me alone at meals. When you’re not at the table there’s no one to annoy Jessamine, and she won’t leave me alone.”

Will felt a sense of happiness that Jem actually wanted him to be around. Will shrugged. “Last night at dinner she threw mashed potatoes at me. She even got them in my hair.” He indicated the untidy mass of black curls on his head. 

“Well, to be fair, you did say her hair looked like two birds had been fighting over the last piece of bread in it. So one might suggest you deserved it.” Jem’s laugh filled the room. A sound that made Will’s chest fill with joy. 

When Jem had first arrived in London, it had been nearly impossible to make him smile or laugh. At meals, he would just stare at his plate and barely eat anything. His eyes would be filled with such a distant look it was like a huge piece of him had been left in Shanghai. When Will would wander the halls of the Institute on sleepless nights, he would sometimes walk by Jem’s door. He had heard quiet sobs coming from the other side, and he had fought the urge to rush in and comfort the other boy. But he had just walked away. Will had lost his family, yes. But not in the way Jem had. 

“We have a few hours until dinner, so how about we get some training in? That is if you haven’t completely worn yourself out,” Jem said and grinned at him. He was walking towards the far wall, the one that held the longswords. He grabbed two of them and swiftly threw one to Will. 

Will caught it and smiled at Jem. “Oh James. When do I ever get too worn out?”

The two boys faced each other and raised their weapons. Jem swung his first, colliding with Will’s sword with great force, the metal on metal sound loud in the room. They continued sparring, swinging and slashing at each other. Their motions was almost like a dance. They were a perfect mirror for each other. A perfect match, Will thought.

Jem used Will’s distraction to get his sword away from him, knocking it from his wrist with little effort. “I thought you said I didn’t know what I was getting myself into!” Jem smirked at Will.

Now or never. “You are going to be my parabatai,” Will said, matter-of-factly. He heard Jem’s sharp intake of breath. 

“Will, no. No! No!” Jem cried. “I am dying. I could be dead by the end of the year. You deserve someone who is going to live, who can look out for you your entire life. You can only have one parabatai in a lifetime. Don’t waste that on me.”

Will grabbed Jem by the shoulders and forced him to look him in the eyes. “James.. I would rather have you as a parabatai for two months than anyone else for a lifetime.” 

Jem’s eyes went wide, and his mouth hung open. Will looked at his longsword lying on the floor. “I’ll make a bet with you. If I can get your longsword away from you, you will become my parabatai. If I do not succeed in my task, then I will drop the whole thing and we can pretend this conversation never happened.” 

At first, Will thought Jem was not going to take the bet. He kind of looked like he was going to be sick. But he took a deep breath and said, “Fine. It’s a deal.”

Will had to fight hard to hide his giddiness. Jem did not know of the extra hours he had been spending training alone with longswords. Will knew he could do this. He had to do this. 

The two boys took their positions. This time Will swung first, flicking his wrist on contact, and that made Jem’s arm move back, but he didn’t drop his sword. Alright then, Will thought. We didn’t exactly establish how I have to get the sword away from him. 

Will began to swing his sword violently at Jem, causing Jem to take steps backward. It was obvious he hadn’t expected Will to be so good at this. Once Jem was close enough to the wall, Will put his arm across Jem’s chest, pinning him to it. He heard the breath rush out of Jem. At the same time, he swung his sword downward with as much force as he could muster. The shock of it all caused Jem to drop his sword.

For a few moments, all that could be heard was the two boys’ breathing. Jem’s eyes searched Will’s face. “How did you- when did you-” Jem honestly couldn’t find the words to say. 

“Well I have been practicing a lot with the longsword,” Will said. He moved his arm off of Jem’s chest so he could get off the wall. “I’ve been coming in here a lot when I can’t sleep. Or when you’re ill and I train alone.”

“Will… there will be many days I will be ill and I won’t be able to train with you. A parabatai needs to be there, every day, when you train.” Jem’s voice was a whisper. “I just want you to know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I know what I am getting into, James. You’re thinking too much into this. As a parabatai, I will be there for you on the days when you cannot get out of bed. I will give you my strength. In battle, I will have your back. In life, I will be by your side, brother.” Will held out his hand to Jem. 

Jem took Will’s hand, his eyes never leaving his friends face. When their hands met, Will thought he felt something. A connection.

“So, we’re going to be parabatai, then?” Jem asked, sounding like he still couldn’t believe the events that had transpired over the last few minutes.

“Not just parabatai. Blood brothers,” said Will. 

Jem nodded and a smile broke out across his face. A smile so bright that it could light the city of London even on it’s darkest night. 

“Blood brothers.”


End file.
